


the fish who loved a bird

by Rethira



Category: The Specific Heat Capacity of Love
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 19:38:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5177225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rethira/pseuds/Rethira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>fish is at the beach when he meets skári</p>
            </blockquote>





	the fish who loved a bird

**Author's Note:**

> if you haven't already, i definitely recommend reading [The Specific Heat Capacity of Love](http://myreadingmanga.info/moss-old-xian-specific-heat-love-eng/) by Moss and Old Xian
> 
> (it's a very bittersweet and beautiful manga but it does include blood and animal death)

everyone calls him fish. it’s not his legal name, but even his parents call him fish. most people forget his name isn’t fish, but it’s okay, because fish likes being fish more than he likes his real name

they call him fish because of the way he swims - “just like a fish” his parents used to say, and the fish part stuck

he goes swimming every day. in the ocean usually, and in the pool when he can’t go to sea. his parents worried when he was little, worried he’d get swept away or drown, but fish has always been an unusually strong swimmer and can hold his breath for ages besides

fish is at the beach when he meets skári

 

skári doesn’t live in town. skári doesn’t stay for long in town either, always moving on. he smiles a lot, and is always laughing

fish has seen skári around, everyone has. he’s the stranger in town, well liked and well known. popular, for all he’s a drifter, for all he flits in and out of everyone’s lives like a bird

fish has never had a reason to talk to him before

but today, as fish walks up out of the surf, skári’s standing there on the sand. he’s skinny and shivering and he smiles as fish approaches and asks “how is your ocean, fish?”

fish shrugs, leaning down to pick up his towel. he wipes himself off, glancing at skári as he does

but skári just smiles, like he always does, and tosses his long pale hair in the light of the setting sun. he follows fish up the beach, murmuring stories and laughing, and fish can see why everyone likes him

skári is easy to be around

after that, every time fish comes up at sunset, skári’s there, waiting for him

they don’t talk much, but it’s okay. skári smiles whenever he sees fish, and fish smiles whenever he sees skári, and sometimes after his swim they just sit together on the sand, skári pressed against fish, shoulder to thigh, and they watch as the stars come out

 

one day, skári takes fish down to the pier and rents a little boat and they sail out to open water

“turn around” skári says eventually

fish turns back, and sees the town, lit up and beautiful and unlike anything he’s ever seen before

skári’s smiling when fish looks back at him, and it seems like the only right thing in the world to reach out and draw him into a gentle, soft kiss

 

skári leaves when it gets colder. he goes with a smile and a kiss, and he sends postcards from warmer places. he signs each one with a little sketch of a seagull

fish pins them up in his room. it doesn’t take long before they cover the walls

i’ll be back soon, skári writes in the new year, i’ll be back soon

and he is

 

there’s a little cove that’s hard to get to from land; the cliffs are too steep and treacherous. people have died trying to climb down to the cove, and now there are signs at the top warning people away

fish knows a secret though

it might be dangerous to climb down to the cove, but it’s pretty easy to swim there

he takes skári out there in the spring. the ocean’s still a bit cold, and the sun air carries a chill, but when they’re tucked close together it’s more than warm enough to lie on the sand

skári traces a line down fish’s spine and kisses fish’s shoulder. “you have a scar” he murmurs, finger tracing that line again “right here”

fish arches into skári’s touch with a sigh

“where did you get it” skári asks

fish says “i don’t know”

 

fish has other scars - he calls them scars because they look like scars, but maybe it would be better to call them birthmarks

two around his biceps, like silvery white lines. they’re mirrored on his shins, little jagged lines that neatly circle his legs

the last is like a starburst on his chest. it had been bright, bloody red when he was born, but it’s faded to a pale pink over the years

they’re strange birthmarks, and had scared the other children when fish was little

skári isn’t scared by them. skári presses kisses to them, rests his pale, silvery head over the one on fish’s chest and smiles as he says “i can hear your heart beat”

 

before fish ever met skári he used to dream the same dream

it was a nightmare

in it, he was dragged from his home. it hurt. everything hurt. it was bright and blue above him, and the taste and smell of blood filled his mouth, and it hurt so very, very much

and then he was sent back home, and that hurt even worse, because he’d open his eyes and-

fish always woke up then, shaking

after he meets skári, the nightmare changes

he still ends in pain, back home with blood in his mouth. but when he opened his eyes it would be okay, because skári was coming with him, and fish would wake with the words “i knew you would come” still fresh on his lips

one night, skári’s with him when he has the nightmare

he leans over, fingers brushing fish’s forehead, and he smiles like always and kisses fish back to sleep

 

everyone calls him fish. it’s his real name, and he doesn’t answer to any other

he has a friend whose name is skári, and they love each other


End file.
